Beaverton Farmer's Market kicks off the season Saturday, May 12, 2012

BEAVERTON, OR - April 5, 2012 - The Beaverton Farmer’s Market opens for the season on Mother’s Day Weekend, Saturday, May 12, 2012 at 8:00 am in downtown Beaverton. With more than 200 vendors, and 18 new to the market including Ambacht Brewing, Hammer & Tuffy’s Hand Roasted Granola, Portland Creamery, Happy Cup Coffee Company, Pacific Northwest Kale Chips,
West Coast Scrapple, and Three D Ranch, this year’s market will have a stunning array of locally grown and crafted products from more than 100 Oregon and Western Washington, growers, producers, and artisans. The market kicks off with over 125 heirloom tomato starts from Red Pot Spot, Springhill Farm, and Western Oregon Organic Farms.

Join the Beaverton Farmer’s Market and Mayor Denny Doyle for a ribbon cutting ceremony and celebratory cake at 10:00am on Opening Day!
What perfect timing for finding the perfect gift for Mother’s Day, May 13th! Whether it’s flowers to plant, bouquets to display, buttery baked goods and fresh-roasted coffee for breakfast-in-bed, or beautiful hand-crafted chocolates and confections, the market vendors will have everything needed for a special weekend celebrating Mom.
In 2012, the Beaverton Farmer’s Market is celebrating their 25th anniversary with an exciting roster of events and programs, including: Market Sprouts- an interactive program to encourage young kids to find and eat food at the market; The Amazing Market Race- a scavenger hunt and social media program for market lovers; Feast on the Farm dinners- to give market-goers an experience beyond the usual shopping; Wine Tasting- take a field trip to the winery with tastings, tours, and food tastings from participating market vendors who are located near the winery; Wellness Weekends- expanding on last year’s popular weekends; Summer Food Drive 2012 on August 11th; Latino Fiesta- September 2nd, 2012, Labor Day Weekend.

The 2012 season will also passionately pursue outreach to low-income and minority populations in Washington County, as well as to immigrant, refugee and migrant communities via the food stamp programs such as SNAP/EBT. The market participates in three programs that make fresh, local food available to everyone in the community:

The Farm Direct Nutrition Program is for both WIC (Women, Infant and Children) and Seniors—this program helps nutritionally at-risk groups obtain farm-fresh produce. The FDNP brought $1 million to Oregon farmers and families last year, and is for fresh fruits and veggies purchased at farmers markets only.

The WIC Fruit and Veggie Voucher Program is for woman, infants and children. It will mean $8 million to Oregon families, which they can spend either at their local farmers market or the grocery store to purchase fresh fruits and veggies only.

The Oregon Trail (food stamp) program allows participants to purchase tokens at the market which they can spend on any type of food product as long as it is not meant to be eaten on premise. The number of Oregon Trail tokens sold at the Beaverton Farmers Market last year increased 300%. More program recipients have discovered that they can use the electronic benefits at markets set up with a token system, like the Beaverton Farmers Market.

These programs are a win-win for everyone. Consumers using tokens or coupons have access to the fresh, quality food, and farmers and artisan producers can sell to customers who would not otherwise be able to shop at the market.
The market continues its sustainability efforts with compostable serviceware being used by all of the prepared food vendors, biodegradable garbage bags in place throughout the market, and mandatory recyclable packaging, though most containers are biodegradable, too.
For a complete listing of all the market vendors, please visit www.beavertonfarmersmarket.com.
We’ll see you at the market!